Tag: home gym

I do most of my workouts in my own home gym. It’s cheaper, it’s convenient and sometimes it’s kind of cluttered. Here’s a good way to organize your Tabata workouts so you can always find the one you want, when you want it.

Post-it notes aren’t just for the office. My hubby works with personal trainers from One-on-One Fitness. He gets Tabata work-out ideas from them. I like to search for mine on You Tube. (Check out my facebook page for a new Tabata video each Tuesday.) We write each Tabata workout on a post-it note. Then we post it on the wall in our home-gym basement. When it’s Tabata day, we choose one that is posted on the wall, put it on the coffee table so we can refer to it as we work out. When we’re done, we post it back to the wall. It’s ready to go the next time we need it. It’s easy to do, it’s convenient, and my personal favorite, it only costs the price of a pack of Post-it Notes!

If you’re sick of paying that monthly gym membership and then passing by everyday with a new excuse not to stop and exercise, maybe it’s time to make your own home gym. I used to be a “Y” member and also joined Curves for a few years. I liked both of them, but when I changed jobs and Curves relocated it was a giant pain in the butt to get there. One place I was always sure to go was home. Why not work out there? Here are some tips for you to make a home gym work for you.

If you are not self motivated, you will want some accountability by enlisting the help of a workout buddy, or by joining a fitness group.

Start small and build up. Don’t spend hundreds of dollars on equipment you will end up using to hang your laundry from! Invest in more expensive fitness gear once you have developed a routine you are sticking with consistently.

Clear a space for your home gym that is not in a high traffic area.

You don’t need huge machines in your home to get in shape. Effective cardio and strength training workouts can be put together with little or no equipment. Your own body weight is one of the most effective methods of resistance training.

My home gym in my basement

The equipment I have:

Dumbbells: I have 1,3,5,10,15 and 20 lb weights. I didn’t buy all these at once. I started out with 1,3, and 5 lbs. As I gained strength I bought more. Typically the lighter weights are sold at a set price. The heavier weights are priced per pound. Some of these were gifts I asked for at birthday and Christmas time.

Select-tech dumbbells: After I knew I was committed to a strength training program, I invested in these dumbbells by Bowflex. You can dial in the wieght you want to lift from 5 lbs. to over 50 lbs. The really nice thing is they go up in 2.5 lb. increments. I’m not always ready to jump up 5 lbs.. These are more expensive, so I asked for them for Christmas. I know a friend that saved up her Angel bucks through the Amazon.com program and got them for $6.00. Huge savings.

Resistance Bands: These are portable resistance that weigh next to nothing (think suitcase) and take up very little space. If you are just getting started with resistance training and don’t want to spend a lot, my $ is on this product. You do have to modify how you do an exercise with bands, so it would be good to look up some demo videos on Youtube.

Fitness Ball: Great for core training and balance. I picked up one at Kmart for about $25.00. They take up a lot of space, but you can deflate it when not in use.

Foam Roller: I love it for flexibility training and working the kinks out of sore muscles and facia. There’s something about it that just makes me feel right with the world when I am done. Stress relief for about $24.00!

Fitness Block: It increases the intensity of certain stretches. You can also use it for extra stability if you are struggling with yoga poses and other balance exercises. Picked this up at Target for less than $20.00

Yoga Mat: Great for travel and very non-skid. I bought it for about $25.00

Fitness programs I use:

I have several cardio and stregth training DVD’s. The ones I use the most are ChaLean Extreme (weigthlifting) and Zumba. All you need is a TV and a remote and you have your own trainer helping you through the routines. Both these programs include several workouts and cover cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength and flexibility training.

You can also find a lot of workouts for $0.00 by searching Youtube, Pinterest and fitness blogs (like mine). I love finding new tabatas workouts I can use. If you know the basic components of fitness and know what you like, feel free to make up your own workouts as well. Happy fitness! Have you set up your own home gym? Tell your story here 🙂

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Sue Kauffman

Sue Kauffman is a Physical Educator and ACE Certified Personal Trainer and Healthy Lifestyle Planner in Central Pennsylvania. She is a wife and mom of two grown daughters. She blogs here about exericse, fitness and nutrition.